InsideOut

"The Lord works from the inside out. The world works from the outside in. The world would take people out of the slums. Christ would take the slums out of people, and then they would take themselves out of the slums. The world would mold men by changing their environment. Christ changes men, who then change their environment. The world would shape human behavior, but Christ can change human nature...Yes, Christ changes men, and changed men can change the world."
Ezra Taft Benson

Feb 21, 2016

The past few days, the sun has been out especially bright for this time in the winter and it makes me happy, happy, happy! I always forget how rejuvenating sunshine is until I get big ol' dose of it and realize what I've been missing :)

(On this sunny day, this view in real life was breathtaking. This picture...not so much. But I included it as a reminder of how refreshing this beautiful earth is!)

The sunshine got me in the mood to write some of the thoughts I've had lately. I have two main thoughts.

~

First: I have been thinking a lot about hard things people go through. Specifically, disabilities/health conditions that severely incapacitate individuals. Why do such enormously hard circumstances exist?

This isn't a new question and I generally feel fairly satisfied about the answers I have for this question, such as a chance to learn/prove/develop what you're made of so you can be a better person.) But. Some of the conditions I am thinking about seem so very limiting that it hardly seems the person is able to personally develop from the circumstance (for example, someone with severe cognitive disabilities).

My question was satisfied in a simple, touching way.

I work with 6th and 7th grade students (and LOVE them!). One student approached me wondering if I could help her come up with a way she could do something kind for a classmate with severe disabilities. This student had already been spending time with her classmate but wanted a way to do something more. Through the collaboration of a plethora of individuals (a teacher, the vice principal, the women who run the Boys & Girls program, a friend of one of these women, and 6th/7th graders in a Random Acts of Kindness after-school club), the idea was formed and the plan was executed to make a blanket for this girl. The blanket was beautiful. As was the experience.

So many individuals reached out to make this blanket-endeavor a success. There was my answer. Yes, one of the reasons life is hard is so that we can grow and learn and become something stronger and better. But a parallel reason life is hard is so that we can love each other. So we can look beyond our own interests and growth to care about someone else and their world. (Which, in turn, helps us learn and grow.) There are some tough, tough things in life. So we learn. And we love.

~

Second--and related--I have the lines of a Sam Foss poem frequetly circling back to me lately: "Let me live in a house by the side of the road and be a friend to man." (There is actually a super awesome house in Brigham City themed around this poem, maybe I'll take a couple pictures of it and add it to this post, I love it!)

Feb 20, 2016

(This is not necessarily a post about something that inspires me. This is just a post about my 2 cents on the subject of posing/authenticity in social media ;))

Awhile ago, I came across a buzzfeed article that I found hilarious: http://www.buzzfeed.com/stephaniemcneal/hipster-barbie#.mmANQAnRE

Basically, it pokes fun of how overly-staged people's lives can seem through the lens of social media. (Hash-tagging "live authentic" or other such sayings despite the misrepresenting their lives in accompanying pictures.)

(I found this humorous and it seemed fitting for the post ;))

My thoughts....

Number 1: Holy smokes, agreed!!!!! On several occasions, I have seen people post very pinteresty pictures about feeling inspired or about how rosy their day/life is, only to find out they were actually having a super crappy day or that their lives are in complete shambles.

Number 2: Ummm....I love cool pictures!So...I actually enjoy the breathtaking nature shots, cleverly setup pictures of family/friends/things, and tributes to events that people got to experience. People are so creative, and it astounds me and inspires me.

Number 3: I'm split! I am bugged that people so often present themselves falsely. But...would I like it any better if people were using social media to keep us updated about the mundane or unpleasant aspects of their lives? (#toasterbrokeagain) We like to share the positives! The cool trips we go on, the cool sights we see, the experiences (everyday or unusual) that we enjoy, and the people we love. (Even on crappy days or when much of our lives are in shambles, there are good things that happen, and it is great when people can acknowledge that.)

I have no real conclusion to this rant. The posing bugs me. The sharing of awesomeness inspires me.

I think we are all trying to discover who our "authentic" self really is, probably because we develop that self in the process of trying to find it.

Maybe the only real problems come if we let ourselves think (1) every second of our life must be snapchat/instagram/facebook/twitter-worthy or (2) only the post-worthy moments in life are valuable, or (3) when we allow ourselves to feel jealous or inferior when we see what everybody else is posting.

Maybe the good comes when (1) we think how great it is that someone found enough joy in what they were experiencing to share it, (2) we feel inspired to do something or change something positive, or (3) we get to keep in touch with someone we don't see regularly, or (4) whatever other good you can think to get out of what people post.

I guess this is the conclusion of my rant: enjoy the good that you encounter and let the rest fly by.

Oct 27, 2014

I can officially say it has been forever since I have blogged. Listening to good ol' Lady A today provided the spark to get me writing again!

I love this song, "I Was Here." (I love a lot of Lady Antebellum's music :)) Especially because I have been thinking a lot lately about what matters.

My life has become so busy...even busier than I have ever been before...which causes good time for reflection: if how we spend our time reflects our priorities, are my priorities what I want them to be?

One thought that comes to mind is this quote:

"How we respond in any situation has to make things better,

not worse....

What ultimately will make this situation and [others] better?"

Jeffrey R. Holland

Back to the song, one reason I like it so much is that I don't get the vibe of "this is all about me and how I can change the world"...even though it talks about that. I get the vibe of getting pumped up to make sure I am being me, and being the best me every day so I can do something that matters.

What matters?

When you know that, you find your path.

"I Was Here"Lady Antebellum

You will notice meI'll be leaving my mark like initials carved in an old oak treeYou wait and seeMaybe I'll write like Twain wroteMaybe I'll paint like Van GoghCure the common coldI don't know but I'm ready start cause I know in my heart

I wanna do something that mattersSay something differentSomething that sets the whole world on its earI wanna do something betterWith the time I've been givenAnd I wanna tryTo touch a few hearts in this lifeLeave nothing lessThan something that says "I was here"

I will prove you wrongIf you think I'm all talk, you're in for a shockCause this dream's too strongAnd before too long

Maybe I'll compose symphonies,Maybe I'll fight for world peaceCause I know it's my destinyTo leave more than a trace of myself in this place

I wanna do something that mattersSay something differentSomething that sets the whole world on its earI wanna do something betterWith the time I've been givenAnd I wanna tryTo touch a few hearts in this lifeLeave nothing lessThan something that says "I was here"

And I know that I will do more than just pass through this lifeI'll leave nothing less than something that says "I was here"

"I was here"(I was here)"I was here"(wanna do something that matters)(Something that says I was here)"wanna do something that matters"(Something that says I was here)"I was here"

Jun 5, 2013

This is a song we have been loving at work :) (Slash hating when it is stuck in our heads)

Good stuff :)

Brave by Sara Bareilles
"You can be amazingYou can turn a phrase into a weapon or a drug
You can be the outcast
Or be the backlash of somebody's lack of loveOr you can start speaking up
Nothing's gonna hurt you the way that words do
And they settle 'neath your skin
Kept on the inside and no sunlight
Sometimes a shadow winsBut I wonder what would happen if you

Say what you wanna say
And let the words fall out
Honestly I wanna see you be brave

With what you want to say
And let the words fall out
Honestly I wanna see you be brave

I just wanna see you
I wanna see you be brave

Everybody's been there, everybody's been stared down
By the enemyFallen for the fear and done some disappearingBow down to the mightyDon't run, stop holding your tongue
Maybe there's a way out of the cage where you live
Maybe one of these days you can let the light in
Show me how big your brave is

Say what you wanna say
And let the words fall out
Honestly I wanna see you be brave

Innocence, your history of silenceWon't do you any goodDid you think it would?Let your words be anything but emptyWhy don't you tell them the truth?

Say what you wanna say
And let the words fall out
Honestly I wanna see you be brave

With what you want to say
And let the words fall out
Honestly I wanna see you be brave...

May 20, 2013

Charlotte Bronte wrote an encouraging poem I quite liked!
What I like most about it is that I strongly believe the message I got:
Hope is powerful.

Really we're all gonna have uncomfortable or rough or personally stretching times. If you believe things can get better, you work to create that reality. What a simple but profound truth!

My boss has a license plate cover that says, "There are no accidents." Besides tempting the car wreck gods, this saying basically means that you create yourself and what happens to you by what you think and do. (Things happen to us. But if we do something with them (or not), then we are still involved in that creation.)

Which reminds me of this:

(Yep. Totally found this on Pinterest)

Life teaches you that you need to have hope when hope is the silliest option.

Which reminds me of this video. Holy heck, that was one of my first posts. "If you don't get a miracle...become one."

A line in this poem says,
"Yet hope again, elastic springs, Unconquered, though she fell." Awesome

Life--Charlotte Bronte
"Life, believe, is not a dream
So dark as sages say;
Oft a little morning rain
Foretells a pleasant day.Sometimes there are clouds of gloom,
But these are transient all;
If the shower will make the roses bloom,
O why lament its fall?

What though Death at times steps in
And calls our Best away?What though sorry seems to win,
O'er hope, a heavy sway?Yet hope again elastic springs,
Unconquered, though she fell;
Still buoyant are her golden wings,
Still strong to bear us well.
Manfully, fearlessly,
The day of trial bear,
For gloriously, victoriously,
Can courage quell despair!"